Canadian company to purchase Agriprocessors plant

POSTVILLE, IOWA — According to information in court filings, SHF Industries LLC, based in Canada, has agreed to purchase the Agriprocessors Inc. kosher meat plant, including the payment of at least $8.5 million of the $21 million owed to the bankrupt company’s creditors.

The Des Moines Register reported that Agriprocessors’ bankruptcy trustee asked a judge to permit the sale of the company’s plant to SHF, which registered as a business in Iowa May 6. According to the report, SHF Industries’ chief executive is Hershey Friedman, a Montreal-based businessman who is the president of Polystar Packaging in Canada. Mr. Friedman agreed to purchase the plant on an "as-is" basis on May 6 along with two additional investment partners.

"It’s a pretty firm deal," said Joseph Sarachek, the company’s trustee. The sale must be approved by a bankruptcy judge and prosecutors of the former chief executive, Sholom Rubashkin, who led the company prior to the high-profile immigration raid in 2008 that led to the company’s downfall.